Investigators assessing the survivability of a plane crash focus on five factors: integrity of the aircraft, effectiveness of safety restraints, G-forces experienced by passengers and crew, the environment inside the aircraft and postcrash factors such as fire or smoke.
The National Transportation Safety Board deems a crash "survivable" if the forces transmitted to occupants don't exceed the limits of human tolerance and the structure of the aircraft surrounding the occupants remains largely intact. A crash is deemed non-survivable when the G-forces are so great, the body can't withstand the punishment.
This story is from the January 07, 2025 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
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This story is from the January 07, 2025 edition of The Wall Street Journal.
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